Dispensing apparatus



July 28, 1931. A. R. WHITE 1,816,452

DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed April 1, 1927 Patented July 28, 1931- PATENT OFFICE UNITED STATES ALBERT R. WHITE, F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO GLASCOCK BROTHERS MANU- FAOTURING COMPANY, OF MUNCIE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA DISPENSING Application ifiled April 1,

if vide a dispensing apparatus with an efiicient temperature changing means.

Another object of my invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus with an eflicient means to insulate the temperature in the apparatus against temperature outside of the apparatus.

Another object of my invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus with means to prevent articles from being inserted into the so apparatus in any but one definite way or manner or in an undesired way or manner.

Another object of my invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus with means to prevent articles from jamming in the apparatus while the articles are being conducted or conveyed through the apparatus.

Another object of my invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus with means to store articles in one portion-thereof and with means to change the temperature of articles in another portion thereof.

Another objectof myinvention is to provide a dispensing apparatus with means to store articles in one portion thereof and with means to change the temperature of articles in another portion thereof and with means to identify the articles and arranged so that the same identifies the articles'in the storage means as well as the articles in the temperature changing means.

Other objects will appear, or'become apparent or obvious,or will suggest themselves, during the description of the apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings.

In dispensing apparatuses of the kind herein described it is, generally, desirable that the temperature of the articles which are dispensed by or through the instrumentality of the apparatus is different than the existing natural temperature; it is also desirable APPARATUS 1927. Serial No. 180,164.

stored in a convenient place and handy for the operator to save time and expense in dis-.

pensing the articles; it is also desirable that the articles to be dispensed can be deposited in and conveyed through the temperature changing means in the most economical manner and without causing any jamming of the articles in the apparatus; it is also desirable that the articles to be dispensed should always be inserted and leave the apparatus in a desirable Way or manner; it is also desirable that the identification of stored articles as well as of articles under temperature change can be made easily and quickly; it is also desirable that such an apparatus can be cleaned easily for sanitary reasons and it is also desirable that differently sized articles can be handled by such an apparatus.

My invention aims to provide the necessary means to attain these desirable features as well as others as will appear presently in this specification and as illustrated in'the accompanying drawings and as will suggest themselves from this description and illustration.

In order to illustrate my invention, for a full understanding thereof, I have selected and shown in the accompanying drawings one particular apparatus embodying the features of my invention; I am aware, however,

that my invention can be embodied in apparatuses of different designs.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a general perspective view of a dispensing apparatus embodying the features of my invention and having means for storing and cooling and dispensing bottles and bottle-like articles either of the same or of diflerent sizes and'means for preventing articles from being inserted. into the apparatus in an undesirable manner and means for preventing the jamming of articles in the apparatus and means for preventing the radiation of the temperature of'the apparatus. 1

Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. 1, on a larger scale, taken in a vertical plane indicated by the line 22 in Fig. 1 and shows the relations of the interior parts more clearly.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken in a horizontal plane indicated by the line 3 in Fig. 2 and shows the relations between the walls and the partitions and the spacer and the feeders more clearly.

Fig. is a sectional view taken in a horizontal. plane indicated by the line a in Fig. 2 and shows the relations between the walls and the partitions and the pan more clearly.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the feeders with the abutment bar therein.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of Fig. 1 with the cover and the feeders removed.

Fig. 7 is a section taken in a horizontal plane indicated by the line 77 in Fig. 2

and shows the lower refrigerating chamber and the storage chambers more clearly.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the views.

The apparatus shown in the drawings comprises, principally, the base unit A, the receptacle unit B with the cover C, the pan unit D, and the feeders E.

It is observed that all of the elements are made and formed of sheet material to insure economy in structure and lightness in weight to facilitate shipping and moving as well as the handling of the elements for cleaning or other purposes. The outside of the apparatus may be painted or plated or in any other manner made pleasing in appearance or to preserve the material or to afford easy cleaning. The inside of the ap paratus may be painted or plated or otherthe present instance, is not only arcuate but defines a portion of a true circle the center of which is located above the top of the base A. The flanges 13 are bent outwardly from the upper end of the walls andll to abut the cover C.

In the present instance, four storage chambers 14 are provided in each of the walls 10 and ten storage chambers 15 are provided in each of the walls 11; all of the chambers are open on the outside of the apparatus and extend inwardly from the walls and are defined inwardly by the walls 16 which define or form the chamber 1' within the lower part of the base A.

The receptacle C has the two flat end walls 18 oined by the curved wall 19. In the present instance, the curvature of the wall 19 corresponds to the curvature of the seat 12 in the base A and the wall 19 is of the same curvature throughout the entire length thereof; this curvature being truly circular in the present instance. Other forms of curvature, or a combination of flat portions, or a combination of flat and curved portions can be used with equally good results. When other forms are used for the wall 19, the seat 12 is modified to correspond or to meet or to be adaptable to the particular form used.

Inside of the Walls 18 and spaced therefrom and substantially parallel therewith are the two walls 20 joined by the wall 21 inside of and spaced from and substantially parallel with the wall 19.

The spaces between the walls 18 and 20 and 19 and 21 are filled with insulating material to retain the temperature in the apparatus. I have found that alternate layers of felt paper and fibre of sugar cane provides a good insulation means. To augment the insulation, I also provide the nipple and valve neans 22 which permits a suction pump to be attached thereto to extract air from the spaces between the walls and which has valve means to prevent air from entering these spaces after some of the air has been extracted from them.

The partitions 23 divide the inside of the receptacle into ten channels 2 1 corresponding positionally to the ten chambers 15 in the walls 11. The outer edges of the partitions contact the inner surface of the wall 21 and the inner edges of the partitions are of true circular form in the present instance. The inner edges of the partitions may be made of any other than the truly circular form shown. The outer edges of the partitions may be made to conform or correspond to other forms of the wall 21. The depth of the partitions, and consequently the depth of the channels 24 is sufiicient to permit the largest size bottle or other bottle-like article to pass longitudinally through the channels.

The two spacers 25 extend across the upper ends of the partitions and contact the inner edges thereof to retain the partitions in position. Each spacer has the flange 26 on the upper end thereof and the flange 27 on the lower end thereof; both flanges ext-ending inwardly.

The pan unit D is made of one sheet of material in the present instance bent into true circular form corresponding to the true circular contour of the inner edges of the partitions and having the longitudinal edges or ends bent inwardly to form the flanges 28. The wall 29 of the pan has the perforations 30. There are no end walls on the pan.

Each of the feeders E is tubular in form and has the wall 31 beveled off at the bottom as shown. The slot or notch 32 extends part way into or through the shorter side of the wall 31 and is inclined or at an angle with the axes of the feeder. The pin or bar 33, a round piece of material in the present instance, normally rests or lies in the notch 32 and can move laterally therein and normally rests in the lower portion of the notch due to the gravity thereof. The upper end of each of the feeders is fixed in the cover C and extends into the corresponding of the channels 24. As an alternative, the feeders can be fixed in the channels when so desired.

The wall of the cover C has the depressed portion 34, the flat portions 35, the curved portions 36, and the angular or bead-like portions 37 which form an ornamentation as well as a rest means for the cover on the flanges 13. The plate 38 extends over the depressed portion 34 to confine the insulation material 39 in the cover. The insulating material in the cover is of the same nature as the insulation material described above. The portions 35 have openings suitable either to receive the upper ends of the feeders or to permit articles to pass through them. These openings are spaced in accordance with the spacing of the channels 24. The cover may, conveniently, be hinged onto the receptacle by means of the hinge element 40 within the portion 37 on one side of the apparatus, preferably on the back thereof. It is not necessary that the cover is hinged since it can be lifted off bodily. When the cover is hinged or otherwise attached tothe receptacle, the cover and the receptacle form a unit complete in itself with all of the parts thereof mechanically attached to each other.

The lids 41 are hinged to the plate 38 to normally close the openings in the portions 35 of the cover or the upper ends of the feeders as the case may be. v

Since the present apparatus is designed to cool articles, the receptacle is filled with water up to the level 42 which is located above the flanges 27. For cooling purposes I use the ice 43 immersed in the water within the pan D. The overflow pipe 44 may be connected to any suitable drainage means.

The diametrical size of the feeders is made sufliciently large so that the diametrically largest size article which is to be handled the apparatus can easily pass through the same. The cross-sectional size of the channel's 24 is made so that the largest articles which are handled by the apparatus can pass freely through'the same in the arcuate path imposed by the arcuate structure of the receptacle elements.

The pan D normally rests on the inner edges of the partitions and the flanges 28 thereof abut the under side of the fianges27 to hold the pan in position in the receptacle. Since there are no end walls on the pan, the upper ends of the pan can easily be forced inwardly or toward each other and out from under the flanges 27 whereupon the pan can be removed from the receptacle through the top thereof for cleaning or other purposes.

in the interior of the receptacle.

level of the water is located above the junc The water in the receptacle is cooled by the ice therein and the level of the water is at the same height in all of the channels and Since the and the water seal mentioned constitute an effective means to prevent the escape of cold air from the receptacle.

As a further aid to promote the insulation of the apparatus, the insulation material 45 is provided on the bottom of the chamber" 17. As a further aid to promote the insulation of the apparatus, a suction pump can be attached to the nipple 22 to extract'air from the spaces between the double walls.

A refrigerator means, mechanical, electri cal or otherwise, can be installed in the chamber 17. Instead of the ice in the pan or the refrigeration means in the chamber 17 as described in the cooling apparatus shown, other temperature changing means can be used? for instance, hot Water or steam can be used when a heating apparatus is to be designed.

The apparatus shown and described has a base unit and a receptacle .unit and a pan unit. The pan unit can be removed from the receptacle unit without disturbing the base unit or the receptacle unit in any manner and the receptacle unit can be removed from the base unit without disturbing the base unit or the pan unit in any manner. Neither one of the units is rigidly fastened to another unit; and all units are individually removable from the apparatus. This arrangement facilitates the cleaning of the apparatus so that the same can easily be kept in most sanitary condition.

Each of the identification holders is in vertical alignment with one of the channels 24 and with one of the storage chambers 15. Each of the holders contains a card which identifies a certain brand of articles as illustrated by the letter X on one of the cards for instance. Articles of the brand X are stored in the chamber 15 which is in vertical alignment with the tag or card X and articles of the brand X are pushed into the channel 24' which is in vertical alignment with the tag or card X and the channel is filled completely with these articles. While these articles are reposing in the channels, the temperature changing means, in the present instance the ice for cooling purposes, changes the temperature of the articles in the channels to the temperature of the tem perature changing means.

Now, when it is desired to dispense a certain brand of article, take one of those articles from the chamber 15 in which these articles are stored and push it into the opening or entrance portion of the channel which is in vertical alignment with that chamber and with that particular tag or identification card.

\Vhen this particular article, as the article 46 comprising a bottle for instance, is inserted neck first into the feeder in that particular channel, the neck portion thereof pushes the pin 33 laterally and upwardly in the notch 32 and out of the way of the bottle and there by permits the bottle to be inserted into the channel as well as to be inserted in the proper direction. If attempt is made to insert the bottle with the bottom first, the bottom of the bottle, which has no tapering, or neck portion, abuts directly against the pin 33 and,

due to the inclination of the notch 32 and the gravity of the pin, retains the pin in its lowest position and thereby prevents the pin from being displaced or pushed out of the way and thereby prevents the bottles from being inserted in any but the proper direction or manner.

lVhile the bottle 46 is being pushed down into the feeder, the other bottles in that particular channel are moved longitudinally in their channel and when the bottle 46 is pushed into the feeder fully, or nearly so, the bottle at the other end of that channel is pushed out of that channel and automatically raises the lid on that side of the apparatus in case the operator did not raise it previously whereupon the operator merely takes this last bottle off of the top of the apparatus to dispense the same. The bottle, having been cooled during its repose in that channel, will always emerge from the channel in a proper manner; that is with the neck portion first.

Vhile one of the bottles 46 is pushed into the channel, the other articles or bottles in that channel are pushed longitudinally forward in that channel and since that channel is of one direction longitudinally the path of the bottles is unvarying, or in other words,

the path of the bottles is one directional and the bottles all move in one definite path throughout the travel thereof. Since the longitudinal path of the bottles is one directional, the lateral position of the bottles is not changed during the travel and each bottle contacts the adjacent bottles in the same manner throughout the path thereof. Since the lateral position of the bottles is not changed during the longitudinal travel thereof, the bottles do not jam in the channel.

Vhen the longitudinal path of the bottles is not one directional or not unvarying, as a combination of a curved and a straight path for instance, the lateral position of the bottles must change when the path changes;

I therefore, an apparatus which has a changing path must limit its capacity to one particular size of article and confine that article in such a manner that the same can not be displaced laterally sufficiently far to jam another article.

Since the path of the articles is unvarying in my invention and the articles always contact each other in the same manner throughout the travel thereof, the possibility of jamming is eliminated and articles of various sizes can be handled by the apparatus.

The apparatus shown and described is economical'of structure as well as of operation; the articles can not jam therein; the apparatus is insulated against temperature radiation; the unitary structure of the ele ments thereof affords easy and convenient assemblage of the apparatus as well as easy and convenient disassen'iblage for easy and convenient cleaning thereof to attain a sanitary apparatus; the various articles in the" apparatus are identified by neans on the outside of the apparatus so that the desired articles will always be dispensed without the necessity of inspecting the same; and the articles are always conveyed out of the apparatus with the desired end first to avoid the necessity of inspecting the articles and manipulating the same to present them with the proper end upwardly.

I am aware that my invention can be em-F bodied in apparatuses other than the coolingdispensing apparatus shown and described and that changes can be made in the structure as well as in the arrangement of the elements and members shown and described; therefore, without limiting myself to the precise application of my invention as shown and described nor to the precise structure and arrangement of the elements and members as shown and described, I claim TM 1. An apparatus of the character described including a feeder having a shell with a notch extending part way through the same, the bottom wall of said notch being inclined, and a rod normally resting in the lower end of said notch and laterally movable therein.

2. An apparatus of the character described including a feeder having a shell, and a laterally movable abutment member extending traversely into the same, said shell having air' inclined plane on which said abutment rides.

3. An apparatus of the character described including a receptacle having a side wall of arcuate form, a plurality of partitions in said receptacle against said side wall, the inner edge of each of said partitions being arcuate,

a spacer connecting the ends of said partitions, and a pan resting on said inner edges.

4:. An apparatus of the character described including a receptacle having a side wall of arcuate form, a plurality of partitions in said receptacle against said side wall, the inner edge of each of said partitions being arcuate, and an open ended arcuate pan insertable into and removable from said receptacle through saw the top thereof and restable on said inner edges. 7

5. An apparatus of the character described, including a substantially U shaped receptacle, a plurality of partition members in said receptacle co-operating with said receptacle to provide guiding channels, the inner edges of each of said partitions being arcuate, oppositely disposed abutments at the ends of said partitions and a pan resting on said inner edges and having its ends engaging said abutments to maintain said pan in position.

6. An apparatus of the character described, including a substantially U shaped receptacle,

a plurality of partition members in said re-' ceptacle co-operating with said receptacle to provide channels, the inner edge of each of said partitions being arcuate, an arcuate pan resting on said inner edges and means engaging the edges of said pan for maintaining the same in position.

7. An apparatus of the character described, including a substantially U shaped receptacle, a plurality of partition members in said receptacle co-operating therewith to provide guiding channels the inner edge of each of said partitions being arcuate, an open ended arcuate pan resting on said inner edges and means for engaging the edges of said pan and maintaining the same in position.

8. An apparatus of the character described, including a substantially U shaped receptacle, a plurality of partitionmembers in said receptacle co-operating therewith to provide guiding channels the inner edge of each of said partitions being arcuate, a pair of stop members disposed at diametrically opposite points on said guide members and a pan resting on said inner edges and having its ends engaging beneath said stop memers. V I In testimony of the foregoing I aflix my signature. I ALBERT R. WHITE. 

